Poland has been developing alternative gas supplies and expanding its infrastructure so it can become fully independent from Russian natural gas from 2023, the government commissioner for strategic energy infrastructure has said.
Poland’s government commissioner for strategic energy infrastructure announced on March 17 that Poland will be ready to entirely cease the importation of natural gas from Russia by 2023.
Poland’s state-owned gas distributor PGNiG has notified Russia’s Gazprom that it will terminate their long-term contract by the end of 2022. Alternative sources of natural gas are already available and include liquified natural gas (LNG) imported from i.a. Qatar and delivered to the port of Świnoujście in the northwest of the country. The Baltic Pipe project, which will be used to import natural gas from Norway is also underway. Gas links with neighbouring countries Lithuania and Slovakia are also being established.
Russia’s economy relies heavily on the export of natural resources, including energy resources. It has been a major provider of natural gas for most of Europe for many years. In recent weeks, other countries in Europe have also decided to seek alternative sources of natural gas. Nord Stream 2, a joint Russian-German project, which has been completed but not yet certified and put into operation, has been put on the back burner by the recently formed left-liberal coalition government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and the project may never actually see any use.